Your ad agency is your most important partner in growing your business in the real estate or mortgage industry.
Like your attorney or accountant, they can only provide results if you share all the details with them.
By: Pat Seroka
To get the greatest bang from your ad agency you need to consider these 8 “rules of engagement
- They will need to know your competitive advantages and disadvantages, where you really excel, areas where your competitors are truly a threat – and all the details in between. Hopefully, you’ve selected an agency with deep experience in the mortgage and real estate industries so that they will grasp your value and begin asking intelligent questions to formulate the right marketing strategy for your company.
- Be crystal clear with your expectations. What exactly do you want to accomplish, with what funding and within what time frame? Create agreement in advance on how results will be evaluated.
- Be flexible. Be open to their suggestions and trying new approaches outside your comfort zone. Your agency may come up with innovative solutions that you wouldn’t have thought of on your own. By being flexible and open to new ideas, you can get the most out of your agency’s expertise and creativity. A well-executed campaign is more like a symphony than an act. Depending on your budget and time frame, your agency should suggest a blend that may include PR with social media, along with traditional advertising, speaking engagements, trade shows and much more.
- Provide detailed feedback on the results of the advertising campaign and any changes you would like to see. This will help your agency to refine their approach and produce better results in the future.
- View the long game. If you’ve done your homework and selected a firm with deep experience in your industry, that focuses on strategy, is creative, has the capability to execute the many contemporary facets of marketing, and most importantly, is demonstrating success –you’ve got a winner.
- Set realistic expectations. It’s important to understand that advertising campaigns take time to produce results and that success is often the result of ongoing effort. Be realistic about what you can achieve and provide your agency with enough time to produce the results you are looking for.
- Provide access to key stakeholders. Make sure that your agency has access to all relevant stakeholders, including decision-makers, product experts, and customer insights. This will help them to understand your business better and produce more effective campaigns.
- Build a partnership. Treat your relationship with your ad agency as a partnership, not just a vendor relationship. By working together as partners, you can tap into their expertise and experience, and get the most out of their services. When both parties are invested in the success of the campaign, the results can be significantly better.
And if you’re in the mortgage or real estate industry looking for a fresh approach to your marketing, send me a note, I’d love to discuss your growth!